Lead found in water serving Pierce County private school. What’s being done?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Gig Harbor Academy detected lead above EPA action level in art studio tap water.
- School shut off that outlet, maintains bottled drinking water use since 2021.
- School plans municipal connection or corrosion control treatment to resolve lead.
Samples earlier this year identified lead in the water supply at Gig Harbor Academy, a private school in Artondale serving students from preschool to fifth grade, but students are not at risk, staff told The News Tribune Friday.
A reporter reached out to the school after receiving an anonymous tip to ask for more information about the situation. Head of School Dominic Kehoe responded via emails Nov. 20 and 21, writing that the school is following all applicable regulations and actions required by the state Department of Health.
“I want to reiterate that we are doing all we can to remedy this situation as quickly as possible,” Kehoe wrote.
He also noted that the Department of Health “has confirmed that it is safe to continue using our well water for the non-consumption purposes for which we use it.”
The Environmental Protection Agency website further says that people cannot absorb lead from water through their skin, so it is safe for children to wash their hands in it, he wrote.
An Oct. 17 notice posted on the school’s website, which Kehoe confirmed to be accurate, says that the school had five samples collected on June 17 and sent to a lab for testing. One sample returned a result showing lead levels above 0.015 mg/L, which is the threshold set by the Environmental Protection Agency to take action.
That sample came from the school’s art studio, and water at that site has since been shut off, Kehoe wrote in his email. He also noted that the school’s well water is used for hand-washing, flushing and irrigating their sports field in the summer. They haven’t used the water for drinking since 2021. The school will continue to use water coolers filled with drinking water that they get bottled and delivered, wrote Kehoe.
The school is working on long-term solutions including working toward hooking the school up to a municipal water supply and exploring the installation of an on-site Corrosion Control Treatment (CCT) system. CCT is an official treatment recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency to minimize lead and copper concentrations in drinking water.
Gig Harbor Academy notified families about the lead issue “through physical public postings, on our website, in our newsletter, and in a public forum,” which is beyond what the state Department of Health requires of the school, Kehoe wrote.
Who is responsible for monitoring water in private schools?
Private schools in Washington state must be approved annually by the state Board of Education, Colton Kaltenfeldt, a spokesperson for the Board, told The News Tribune via email Friday. That approval process requires schools to show that they are working with local health authorities, which would be the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department for Gig Harbor Academy. To meet this requirement, Gig Harbor Academy provided a report from their most recent inspection with the health department April 4, which did not include any mention of lead, he wrote. He referred The News Tribune to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department to learn if lead testing is part of the inspection process.
Asked if the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department keeps records or provides any water testing services for private schools, health department spokesperson Brett Cihon responded via email Nov. 18 that the Washington State Department of Health is responsible for regulating the public water system which serves Gig Harbor Academy. He referred The News Tribune to the Department of Health’s Drinking Water System Data site and their department staff for information on the school’s water testing.
The Department of Health’s Office of Drinking Water maintains a database of water quality records, searchable by water system. The database confirms that five samples were tested for lead and copper on June 17 for the Gig Harbor Academy water system.
Kara Kostanich, a state Department of Health spokesperson, told The News Tribune via email Nov. 19 that the department is not required to and does not test the water in private schools. Gig Harbor Academy “was tested as part of the regular testing for compliance by water systems under the Federal Lead and Copper Rule,” she wrote.
The federal Lead and Copper Rule requires water systems to monitor drinking water from the tap and take action to address lead or copper concentrations above specific thresholds, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency website.
Northwest Water Systems, which serves Gig Harbor Academy, conducted the testing and notified consumers on the school’s water system about the lead that was found, according to records of notices issued on their website.
State law does require the department to oversee lead testing for public schools, stating that the Department of Health, “rather than community water systems, is designated as the lead or principal agency in regard to lead in drinking water sampling, testing, notification, remediation, public education, and other actions at public and private elementary and secondary schools as required by the federal lead and copper rule.”
